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Winter Zen Deals! regional restrictions.

alexanderclarkalexanderclark Member Posts: 10 Arc User
So CrypticPW, once again, stop me from buying bundles (for Dragon server) on the website for some weird reason. I am located in Russia, play on Dragon and can't buy bundles without going and messing with VPNs and stuff. Extremely dissatisfied.

That's how the webpage looks for me:



And that's what I see if I try to go directly to a bundle's page (without a VPN.)

Comments

  • ghoulieboyghoulieboy Member Posts: 22 Arc User
    I would like to join in on the topic to express my appreciation towards the fact that Cryptic no longer wants my $10 for a 1000 zen paid via VPN despite my having made a number of purchases using the exact same method just a month ago. Now they only seem eager to accept the transaction through the EU IP, which means billing in Euros instead of $ and having to buy more Zen than it is required for a month of VIP, which was the sole purpose of this transaction in the first place, because the minimal amount of Zen in the European store isn't equal to a 1000 offered for the US. Since I have no desire to support predatory pricing and no use for the excessive Zen forced on me from the EU store I guess I'm gonna have to give up on the idea of paying for VIP whatsoever until this issue gets resolved somehow. Still not sure why the choice of server is determined solely via geolocation, this whole tribal VPN-ritual was hard to call convenient in the first place
  • plasticbatplasticbat Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 12,405 Arc User
    edited December 2021

    I would like to join in on the topic to express my appreciation towards the fact that Cryptic no longer wants my $10 for a 1000 zen paid via VPN despite my having made a number of purchases using the exact same method just a month ago. Now they only seem eager to accept the transaction through the EU IP, which means billing in Euros instead of $ and having to buy more Zen than it is required for a month of VIP, which was the sole purpose of this transaction in the first place, because the minimal amount of Zen in the European store isn't equal to a 1000 offered for the US. Since I have no desire to support predatory pricing and no use for the excessive Zen forced on me from the EU store I guess I'm gonna have to give up on the idea of paying for VIP whatsoever until this issue gets resolved somehow. Still not sure why the choice of server is determined solely via geolocation, this whole tribal VPN-ritual was hard to call convenient in the first place

    It is common (not necessary you would like it) to have different pricing in different region. e.g. Netflex charges differently based on where you live. The usage of VPN is supposed to pretend you are from the target location (such as pretend you are in US). If your VPN service cannot do it, there is something wrong with your VPN service. Yes, some call that "cheating" but many are doing that.
    *** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
  • misquamacus2misquamacus2 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 194 Arc User
    At least you've managed to find the page... :/

  • ghoulieboyghoulieboy Member Posts: 22 Arc User
    It is common (not necessary you would like it) to have different pricing in different region. e.g. Netflex charges differently based on where you live.

    Does Netflix also offer you a 3 week-long subscription instead of a month based on where you live? It's not about the pricing, it's about the qualities of an item in the store, i.e. the neat even number of 1000 Zen is only available in the US store, but not in the EU nor Russian one. The way Netflix charges is the item you buy retains its qualities, it's just the price that changes, which is apparently not the case with PWE. Which is exactly what I was talking about.

    The usage of VPN is supposed to pretend you are from the target location (such as pretend you are in US). If your VPN service cannot do it, there is something wrong with your VPN service.

    I am well aware of what VPN is and what purpose it serves, which is easily proven by the aforementioned fact that I've made more than one purchase using the exact same method from the exact same store as long ago as November. The Zen charged had arrived in about 2 hours after the transaction. It's not that I'm complaining on 403-forbidden error trying to blame the company. Everything seems perfectly legit, it's just the exact same transaction as those coming through in November can't get through in December any longer. Would suspect they don't like my Ukrainian card in their US store, but that exact same card was used a month ago with no complaint, and it's still possible to use it in the EU store just as fine.

    Yes, some call that "cheating" but many are doing that.

    Just to clarify, the usage of VPN was recommended to me by one of the GM in response to a support ticket regarding both copying characters to a preview server and charging Zen to a Dragon server while being located in Ukraine. Their reasoning for resorting to it was that there was no easier workaround for these issues. The reason for the ticket is that if you happen to be located anywhere near Russia, the only preview server available to you without VPN will be Lurker, and the only server you can choose for charging from the Arc store is Drider. So it would be quite absurd for PWE to consider VPN as cheating under any circumstances, considering they're the ones recommending it.

    P.S. Shoutout for Cryptic for snapping this very comment out of existence the first time, unless it's there and I just can't see it for some mysterious reasons. In which case apologies for repetition.
  • plasticbatplasticbat Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 12,405 Arc User
    edited December 2021

    It is common (not necessary you would like it) to have different pricing in different region. e.g. Netflex charges differently based on where you live.

    Does Netflix also offer you a 3 week-long subscription instead of a month based on where you live? It's not about the pricing, it's about the qualities of an item in the store, i.e. the neat even number of 1000 Zen is only available in the US store, but not in the EU nor Russian one. The way Netflix charges is the item you buy retains its qualities, it's just the price that changes, which is apparently not the case with PWE. Which is exactly what I was talking about.

    I don't know if Netflex offers 3 week long subscription or not based on where you live but I do know the content is different based on where you live. There are many things that can be watched in US but not in Canada. So yes, the quality is different based on where you live. Hence, many Canadian gets US subscription through VPN to get US quality (regardless the price). Yes, the price is different too. Canadian price is lower after exchange rate. i.e. even though the price would be higher + extra cost of VPN, certain Canadian still want to get to US content because it has better "quality".

    "Yes, some call that "cheating" but many are doing that" comment was not about Cryptic but more about Netlfix. Netflix even wanted to shut that (the VPN connection from oversea) down couple years ago.
    *** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
  • alexanderclarkalexanderclark Member Posts: 10 Arc User

    The reason for the ticket is that if you happen to be located anywhere near Russia, the only preview server available to you without VPN will be Lurker, and the only server you can choose for charging from the Arc store is Drider.

    Steam allows purchasing Zen on Dragon without the need to use a VPN. But yeah, regional restrictions are super dumb. Why do they even exist if both Dragon and Drider are run by the same company?
  • ghoulieboyghoulieboy Member Posts: 22 Arc User
    edited December 2021

    It is common (not necessary you would like it) to have different pricing in different region. e.g. Netflex charges differently based on where you live.

    Does Netflix also offer you a 3 week-long subscription instead of a month based on where you live? It's not about the pricing, it's about the qualities of an item in the store, i.e. the neat even number of 1000 Zen is only available in the US store, but not in the EU nor Russian one. The way Netflix charges is the item you buy retains its qualities, it's just the price that changes, which is apparently not the case with PWE. Which is exactly what I was talking about.

    I don't know if Netflex offers 3 week long subscription or not based on where you live but I do know the content is different based on where you live. There are many things that can be watched in US but not in Canada. So yes, the quality is different based on where you live. Hence, many Canadian gets US subscription through VPN to get US quality (regardless the price). Yes, the price is different too. Canadian price is lower after exchange rate. i.e. even though the price would be higher + extra cost of VPN, certain Canadian still want to get to US content because it has better "quality".

    "Yes, some call that "cheating" but many are doing that" comment was not about Cryptic but more about Netlfix. Netflix even wanted to shut that (the VPN connection from oversea) down couple years ago.
    You see, the Netflix analogy doesn't quite work here. The regional content restrictions are the very reason both me and the OP here were advised to use VPN by the GMs. That inability to use the Mimic server/charge onto Dragon with a Eastern-European IP indeed corresponds to being unable to watch movies available in the US with a European IP. The issue with the amount of Zen that caused the initial mentions of Netflix, however, does not relate to the regional content much. Take a look at the store the way a German player sees it (if only Cryptic blesses me with the ability to paste a screenshot without losing the comment):



    Now, considering the fact that this hypothetical German player doesn't play on some secluded German server with its own Zen store items and prices, but on the same international Dragon you and me do, they don't have any regional restrictions in terms of in-game content to deal with. They just pay their 1000 for a month of VIP and are left to do whatever they want with the change they acquired solely due to the lack of options.
    As for the local store it gets even better, because the minimal amount of Zen available is 660 for '200' (not sure 200 of what since there's no symbol, but assuming it displays UAH and not RUB for me, would be too low a price in RUB anyway). Now I haven't visited Drider in a while, but last I checked the price for example for 1 month of VIP was the exact same 1000 Zen, and not 660. Which means that despite the server I play on, with the local store I would have to buy 1320 Zen to afford a month of VIP instead of 1000 available for $10 and be left with a 320 spare Zen I never asked for. Sure, would be just a measly 100 had I bought from EU, the exact number is not the issue here. The principle is very similar to the idea of selling a 3-week or 5-week long Netflix subscription instead of a monthly one, and the logic behind it is.. what? the desire to keep the price tag cute and even?
    Meanwhile Netflix, being a respectable streaming service, has only 1 item on their store, which has nothing to do with the list of movies available in different countries, and that is a monthly price. Sure, the number fluctuates from country to country because the exchange rates etc, it's kinda obvious to anyone remotely familiar with online shopping, and the prices may look less neat when converted from EU, but it doesn't concern the notion of monthly in any way.
  • arazith07arazith07 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,719 Arc User

    The reason for the ticket is that if you happen to be located anywhere near Russia, the only preview server available to you without VPN will be Lurker, and the only server you can choose for charging from the Arc store is Drider.

    Steam allows purchasing Zen on Dragon without the need to use a VPN. But yeah, regional restrictions are super dumb. Why do they even exist if both Dragon and Drider are run by the same company?
    Because Russia has stricter internet laws?
  • greywyndgreywynd Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 7,152 Arc User

    *snip*

    Have you considered little things like the currency exchange rates?
    I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
  • plasticbatplasticbat Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 12,405 Arc User
    edited December 2021

    *snip*

    Do you prefer Euro 9.99 for 1000 Zen? Nobody in their 'right' mind would pay 1000 Zen for 1 month VIP. One should at least apply a 20% off coupon. So, there is always a 200 spare Zen "you never asked for" based on your situation.
    i.e. US pricing still does not do you any better for this argument.

    By the way, I would never pay 800 Zen for 1 month VIP. I would only pay 6 month VIP with at least 30% discount.
    Post edited by plasticbat on
    *** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
  • alexanderclarkalexanderclark Member Posts: 10 Arc User
    arazith07 said:


    Because Russia has stricter internet laws?

    I don't see how it's relevant in this case.
  • arazith07arazith07 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,719 Arc User

    arazith07 said:


    Because Russia has stricter internet laws?

    I don't see how it's relevant in this case.
    Well you ask why there are different servers, and the answer is because of the regional law differences, in this case, Russia. I believe it has to do with storage of personal data, though I'm not 100% sure on that.
  • alexanderclarkalexanderclark Member Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited December 2021
    arazith07 said:


    Well you ask why there are different servers, and the answer is because of the regional law differences, in this case, Russia. I believe it has to do with storage of personal data, though I'm not 100% sure on that.

    I doubt law is a problem here. Champions and Star Trek lack different servers, for example, and it seems like I can buy Zen through the website just fine for them. I suspect it's either an oversight from Cryptic (most likely) or probably a misguided attempt to avoid people buying stuff for the "wrong" server and complaining.
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